Be Mine, Valentine
by WolfPhantoms
Summary: For Switchback. Tifa hated Valentines Day until a certain Valentine showed up. A war with candy hearts leads into trouble for Tifa... if only she didn't agree with Yuffie.


**A/N: Happy Valentines Day** **everyone! This is a short fluffy fanfic that kinda came to mind!**

**This is dedicated to Switchback, an amazing writer, and an amazing reviewer.**

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Tifa twirled the piece of heart shaped candy on the bar counter, lazily following the pink heart across the smooth surface. She had specifically ordered ones with crude comments instead of the sweet words that were usually etched in the sugar. Only reason… she had no point to celebrate Valentine's Day except invite the whole Avalanche Team for a small dinner party to catch up on gossip and life stories. She even decorated with paper hearts and all for this small event.

"Tifa, come on and join the party. You organized it for crying out loud." Yuffie jumped over the counter to land neatly beside the martial artist, her eyes bright with unused energy.

"I'm okay, besides I need to run the bar if Cid wants something," Tifa leaned onto her propped elbow, her sweaty hand slipping a little underneath her chin. Her gaze shifted upwards to the team situated around the bar. Two of the tables had been pushed together, offering a safe little haven for the team to be within talking distance, though even with the tables, they were spread out around to comfortable lengths. Frowning, Tifa eyed Shera next to Cid and even Marlene sitting atop Barret's knee. Everyone seemed to have another, except her. She was alone. Even her secret crush didn't want anything to do with her… he was that type anyways.

"So Yuffie, have you gotten Vincent to kiss you yet?" Tifa's eyes instinctively went for the shadowed corners of the room, only being lit occasionally by the lit fireplace off to one side of the bar. Vincent was in the closest corner to the fire, his eyes focused on nothing in particular as the flames danced against the crimson orbs. Only when she looked away did his true attention grow… he was focused on her…

"No, but I don't think he will. Besides, that was so last year…" Yuffie waved a hand and then glanced between Vincent and Tifa, a smile sneaking onto her face as she noticed the gunman's attention. He was being careless tonight; his usual blank expression was slipping…

"How 'bout you? Don't you want a kiss from the Gunman now that you've brought him up? I've seen the way you stare at him… you're in love!" she teased. Tifa's cheeks reddened and she returned her attention to the little piece of candy.

"Yuffie, he's just a good friend, that's all," she shrugged, but knew that it was a lie. It had been a year since Cloud left again, and Tifa had known all along that even though she often dreamed that he would be her knight in shining armor, he would always be her 'bigger brother' figure. Then, after a few months of being completely alone in both her heart and mind, Vincent had stepped in before she did something she would have regretted, saving her many times from depression and sadness.

"Yeah right," Yuffie snorted dryly. As she watched Tifa spin the candy once again, she eyed the cloaked man in the corner.

"Hey Tif! You have anymore of this stuff?" Cid shouted from the table, holding up his empty glass. Before Tifa could even respond, Shera pulled the stubborn pilot's arm down and shook her head at Tifa.

"Sorry dear, but he's had enough as it is," Shera apologized, giving Cid a glare who grumbled slightly before sighing. Tifa stifled some laughter and then noticed the strange look Yuffie was giving her.

"What?" She asked indignantly.

"I'm bored, but have an idea. Want to start a game?" The young ninja reached over Tifa for the bowl of colored hearts, each with its own little sarcastic remark.

"Okay," Tifa said slowly, unsure of the girl's plan.

"Great, here, we'll pick out the one that sounds like each person and then throw them at whoever we picked, get it?" Yuffie dug deep into the bowl until pulling out a heart, examining and then shoving it into Tifa's face. "See? This one says Asshole, perfect for Cid." She gingerly set it down on the counter and then began to search for others.

Tifa grinned at this clever scheme and quickly began to pick out hearts, occasionally showing one to Yuffie who was the final decider for all. Once the hearts were lined up on the counter, Yuffie gave the first one to Tifa… the one for Cid.

"You can shoot, I'm not good at aiming," she apologized with a grin.

Nodding, Tifa took the piece of candy and then tossed it at Cid, nearly colliding with him in the eye, but luckily striking his forehead. "What the hell?" Cid bellowed, curiously picking up the candy and examining the words. His eyes wandered up to Tifa who could only grin innocently.

"You two are gonna get shit for this!" Cid hollered over to them and then threw it back; striking Tifa in the chest and everyone watched it slip down her black leather uniform. Blushing wildly, Tifa returned the attack by throwing the one for Barret at the giant's head. Bouncing off his lower lip, the older man studied it before grinning and repeating what Cid had done.

Yuffie continued to hand off candies for each of the members and Tifa threw, not paying attention to what was written on the sugar. The last one, specifically picked out for Vincent by Yuffie, was handed over and Tifa threw, hoping that she would get her true mark this time. To her happiness and to the shock of the others, she did. It landed perfectly down the cowl of his cloak, causing the gunman to blink slowly before pulling it out of his clothes.

Both Tifa and Yuffie cheered in delight that they had gotten a bulls eye and high fived each other while the others laughed heartily. None of them noticed Vincent's surprised expression at what was written before his fingers closed over it to hide the sugar from the rest of the world.

"Candy fight!" Yuffie screamed and grabbed a handful of the sweets before tossing them at Cid who dropped his unlit cigarette to the floor.

"Yuffie!" He screeched, snatching the closest discarded candy and throwing it back. Yuffie screamed and ducked behind the counter after throwing another and hitting Nanaki who was peacefully lying in front of the blaze. Laughing with the others, Tifa joined in and soon, the candy was turned into flying missiles, each trying to outdo the other in perfect aim. The only one who didn't join in the wild fun was Vincent Valentine who opened his clenched hand once more to examine the candy before hiding it again.

The only one noticing his unusual behavior was Yuffie, who grinned proudly. _There, now the bozos just need to have some alone time. Started it for you Tifa Lockheart, just finish it._ The ninja mused before throwing a revenge candy at Barret.

Soon, the war slowed to a halt as the team dispersed to either go home or go into a hotel. Cid was the first to leave, stubbornly being led by Shera who was demanding some quiet time with him. He got a few 'oohs' from Yuffie who earned two candies thrown at her. Then went Barret and Nanaki along with Reeve who all said that work forced them to leave early and gave Tifa genuine smiles as they left. Yuffie was next, saying that she really needed to get going. For what, Tifa didn't know and only waved after her.

As she began to clean up the color dotted floor, Tifa began to hum. The game had really brought out her merry mood and was proud that Yuffie could cheer her up so easily. If only every Valentine's Day was like this…

"Tifa."

His voice sent her stomach to the other side of the world and she froze from her bent position, a candy even clutched between her fingers. Straightening, she turned; surprised that Vincent was still here.

"Sorry Vincent, I thought you left with the others," She smiled sweetly before squinting at what he held in his hand. He moved closer to her, holding up his palm near her face so she could view the object closely. It was another candy heart, the one that had fallen down his cloak. What was written on it however was what startled her and sent her heart down to where her stomach was… 'Be Mine'. She had made certain that her candies had only crude comments, why did this one say those two words?

At a loss, Tifa struggled to speak, feeling her cheeks burn. Either she looked like an over ripe tomato or an idiot. "Well, I- uh," she stuttered, glancing up to Vincent who merely returned the stare, eyes dark and brooding.

"Do you mean it?" He demanded gently, removing the candy from sight and dropping his hand back to his side. Tifa lowered her eyes while scratching the back of her head until she was sure that she was scratching bone. Vincent reached out and stopped her foolish movements, causing her to tense as stiff as a piece of wood. "Tifa," he whispered, leaning down and grasping her lips in a hungry kiss. In that instant, she became putty in his hands as his arms wrapped around her, his claw grasping the back of her head while her waist was pushed against him.

Before he took it any deeper, he pulled away and gazed into her burgundy eyes. "Do you mean it?" he repeated, smirking at her dreamy smile across those lips he had just kissed. She nodded, still entranced that he had given her something close to a dream come true. "Well, then Tifa," there was amusement in his thick voice as he reached into his pocket to pull out a colored heart, with the words poised on top… 'Kiss Me'.

Grinning, Tifa complied with his heart, grasping the front of his cloak, she pulled him down and furiously relieved her pent up passion. Only in her dreams did Vincent ever kiss her, and it seemed strange that it was occurring now in reality… Vincent quickly joined in, his tongue battling with hers to gain the upper hand. Tifa slowly moved away to rest her head against his chest, listening to his heart dance behind his ribs. Again he pulled another candy heart from wherever he was storing them and held it in front of her face, chuckling a little. Smiling at the other surprise, Tifa looked at it… 'I Love U'.

"And I, you," Tifa mumbled, inhaling the rich scent of vanilla and cinnamon; the scent she had been dying to get a closer smell of for a long time. "No wonder you last name is Valentine…" she trailed off, smiling as he chuckled.

"Only for you," he vowed deeply before pulling her closer. Tifa sighed, she knew that Vincent acted different around her, but she had only assumed it was because he was worried for her safety after he rescued her from one depressing incident. She never though he could love, let alone love her like she did him. It felt strange to be so easily enveloped in his arms… he wasn't even tense. He had been feeling this passion for a long time. _Now why didn't I say something sooner?_ She thought as Vincent whispered sweet nothings into her ear, while she listened mostly to the deep tone of his lovely voice.

At the hotel, Yuffie tossed the bag of candy hearts from her pocket, fully satisfied with the night. It had taken a VERY long time to figure Vincent's feelings toward Tifa, and it took even longer to make him inch forward with his love, but it was all worth it tonight. Tonight, Vincent Valentine had learned that Tifa also felt the same way with him. Proud that her plan worked, she called up the rest of the team,

**"Did it work?"** Cid demanded on the other end. Around him, she could hear the rest of the team, who had been waiting for the results. They too, had worked diligently with the cloaked man to get him to warm up to Tifa after Cloud left and the gunman luckily never suspected a thing.

"Yes!" Yuffie squealed, bouncing around her room excitedly.

**"Hallelujah!"** Barret boomed.** "Took him long enough. They make each other happy and that's what counts. Vincent always seems to act different around her."**

"I just really want to know what's going on down there right now," Yuffie sighed.

**"Do you want me to spell it out for ya?"** Cid snapped, his voice dripping with sarcasim.

"No Asshole!" Yuffie screamed in return.

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**A/N: Please leave a review!**


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